J Sanders – Shape Drifter

Recommendation: ☹

Shape Drifter is the third release from J Sanders, a vaporwave artist who’s been creating music since mid-2015. This particular album came out via the label VK 250, which partially shares its name with the Russian social media site VK – although VK 250 purports to be from Taiwan. It was the twentieth overall release through VK250, which went quiet following the SelectaVision various artists compilation in September 2016.

This release is a ten-track full-length of classic-style vaporwave and ECCOJAMS. The production has a focuses on the mid-range, giving it a slightly muted aesthetic. The progressions and melodies have a lot in common with synthwave, albeit with the dazed affect for which classic-style vaporwave is known. Some tracks (e.g. “Evening Division Unit”) even sound like they could be edits from the Hotline Miami soundtrack. Most of the tracks with vocals are sampled from the hooks of popular music in the 1990s. “Sometimes Never” is a remix of “I Love You Always Forever”, which was originally performed by Donna Lewis in 1996. “d o w n t o w n” prominently features the chorus of “C’mon ‘n Ride It (The Train)” by Quad City DJs – which was also released in 1996.

Shape Drifter is a standard classic-style/ECCOJAMS album that’s part of the vast fray of similar-minded works. With releases like this, you pretty much know exactly what you’re getting into before you press “play”, so those who are interested have already made up their minds about whether or not they’ll listen to it before reading this sentence.